Africa is a continent of various challenges on one side and also full of opportunities in terms of natural and various resources means on the other side as well. The issues are also endless even if it is back to colonization and up-to-date globalization under the umbrella of a free market system. Such a land of huge under and above-the-ground resourceful continent struggles with poverty which is a mass headech to its societies at large. Africa’s problem has not ended here and there, it seems a vicious cycle in its nature. As a result, enormous African children, youngsters, and elders leave the continent to catch up with a better life on the other continent mainly in the highly developed countries. To reach out better life and get wealth for themselves as well as to support their family they go abroad at all costs.
The issues of vast challenges and prospects related to Africa cannot possible, to fit into this review analysis but it aims to delve into and highlight the segments of the role of diaspora in Africa in the dimension of the socio-economic development areas.
Africa’s Economic Development in the Diaspora Aspect
The migration of skilled human resources is referred to as a brain drain for emerging countries particularly for small economies like Africa. The role of the diaspora is significant in terms of economic development when they are involved in the small economies of the African countries even though in a fraction amount. The effect may vary from various aspects based on the areas of participation as well as their educational level, backgrounds, and their awareness as well. As a result, there is no empirical evidence to show the relationship between diaspora and economic development for entire underdeveloped countries, especially focusing on African countries. However, different studies conducted in various countries show there is a positive relationship between skilled diaspora and economic development focus on Africa are positive, effective, and significant: “The African Diaspora, especially the high-skilled Diaspora, contributes positively, significantly and robustly to the improvement of income in Africa.”
EMMANUEL AKYEAMPONG, claims that in his ‘Africans in The Diaspora’ studies which was published on African Affairs in 2000 series, and highlighted that the nature of the African diaspora composition indicates that its meaning has been changed gradually, “from the forced d migration of African captives of the Old and New Worlds to the voluntary emigration of free, skilled Africans in search of political asylum, etc.” In the other studies, the finding outcome suggested that it has been challenging the dominant collective belief in terms of the improvement of the human capital in line with a factor of productivity and democracy segments on the effective transform to channels the connection in between related to this issues. Conversely, some studies elaborated that “high-skilled emigrants have an overall greater impact on economic development and democracy, those with a low level of education contribute more to remittances to Africa.”
Africa’s Global Community: Navigating Challenges and Opportunities in Economic Development
The impact of diaspora on the African economy is a subject of immense importance, with both promising prospects and significant challenges.
i) Addressing Obstacles in Harnessing Diaspora Contributions to African Economic Development: The term diaspora frequently occurs within the wide range associated with the context of political economy channeled to demand for labor. This is also connected with the crucial factors for the ongoing geo-political and social displacement especially nowadays in this modern world mainly in the African community. As a result of globalization or global capitalism which has pushed Africans into cross-border labor markets across the globe for long centuries, from slavery periods to the contemporary brain drain context of African professionals in various areas of academicians among others to the West.
The most challenging is not only socially based issues for emerging countries like Africa, but the government organization is also highly dependent on the developed economy in one way or the others. In the contemporary global context, vast African governments are dependent on Western financial institutions for the running of their economies, at the micro-level the economic survival and prosperity of families have become equally dependent on having family members in the diaspora.” Thus to overcome such challenges the African government and higher institutions like financial sectors or the economic driving industry ought to be highly aware of these areas especially to construct sound-great policy toward it.
ii) Exploring the Influence of the African Diaspora on Economic Growth in Africa: The Diaspora effect on Africa’s economic development prospects highlights the dual impact of remittances, skills transfer, and investment from abroad, alongside many more challenges mentioned above such as brain drain. It underscores the potential for leveraging Diaspora resources to drive sustainable growth and innovation across the continent.
Moreover, it is expected that the African Diaspora plays a significant role in the socio-economic development across the continent through various means. To mention a few, it supports numerous households via the remittances sent by the Diaspora members which is a vital source of income, and enhances its support of education, healthcare, and entrepreneurship skills through different methods. Additionally, the Diaspora brings back valuable ability and competency of knowledge and networks to their home countries, which promotes innovation and economic growth. Nonetheless, there are still challenges such as brain drain, which require strategic initiatives to fully leverage the Diaspora’s potential.
Conclusion Remarks
The role of the African Diaspora in African socio-economic development highlights the promising over periods, which has a significant potential for the African Diaspora in enhancing socio-economic development as well as political dimensions for African people. It is obvious and acknowledged to mention some other importance such as the role of remittances, skills transfer, and investment from the Diaspora in driving growth and innovation the across continent. However, it is also important to emphasize the challenges posed related to the brain-drain issues in order to create enabling environments and policies to maximize the positive impact of the Diaspora. Overall, it underlines the effects of diaspora associated with challenges and prospects that require concerted efforts to leverage Diaspora resources effectively to address development gaps and promote sustainable socio-economic progress in Africa. In conclusion, the active participation of the African Diaspora is vital to driving sustainable development and prosperity across the continent.
Reference
The Diaspora and economic development in Africa: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331744110_The_Diaspora_and_economic_development_in_Africa
Africans in the Diaspora: the Diaspora and Africa: https://www.jstor.org/stable/723808
Diaspora for Development in Africa: https://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/epub/10.1596/978-0-8213-8258-5